Liberty Mutual starts new $325M regional hub at Plano's Legacy West

In the first significant expansion outside Boston, Liberty Mutual Insurance held a ceremonial groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday to kick off the insurance company's new $325 million, 1 million-square-foot regional hub in West Plano.

The Plano regional operations center will be a test for Liberty Mutual Insurance, which is considering similar consolidations throughout the United States.

"Today is a very special day for us at Liberty as we break new ground on our first significant new campus outside the Northeast," said Chairman and CEO David Long, who flew into North Texas on a private plane from Boston for the occasion. "After an extensive and rigorous review, we came to the indisputable conclusion that Plano is the place for Liberty to grow."

The new 19-story office tower will become the center that will house more than 4,000 employees within the $2 billion Legacy West mixed-use development in West Plano.

The quality of the North Texas labor force was one of the reasons why Liberty Mutual Insurance decided to locate its first regional operations center in Plano. Liberty Mutual already has about 1,600 employees in the region, which, at completion of the new tower, will consolidate into the company's new Plano operating center.

Liberty Mutual's Chief Talent Officer Melanie Foley said the company plans to compete for talent and become an employer of choice in the region. At completion of the new tower, the tower will include an on-site medical center, full-service cafeteria, covered parking, full locker rooms and two rooftop gardens for employees to relax.

Construction — which is employing an estimated 1,000 workers — is slated to be complete in 2017.
Dallas-based KDC is the developer of the tower. Dallas-based Omniplan is the project architect. Balfour Beatty Construction is the general contractor for the development. Other players include Kimley-Horn as the project's civil engineer and Studio Outside as the landscape architect.